Biology student bags prize in prestigious competition

Upper Sixth Form pupil Laura Cooper secured the runners up prize in a prestigious competition designed to celebrate the life of Gregor Mendel, widely thought of as the father of modern genetics.

The Galton Institute set budding biologists the challenge of writing an essay on any aspect of Mendel’s life, work and/or legacy.

Last year marked the 150th anniversary of Mendel’s first public communication of his work on the breeding of peas, which defined the laws we now refer to as Mendelian inheritance. A year later, he published his findings in the Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Brünn.

Mr Peter Grant, Head of Biology, said: “I am delighted for Laura. This is just one of many Biology activities she has been involved in over the past two years. She has invited guest speakers from Manchester University to come in to school to give presentations and has herself given a superb presentation on Evolution in one of our Café Sci lectures. She has a genuine enthusiasm for Natural History and Biology in general and this prize is very well deserved.”